Reply to Trying to stay positive and be patient with DCPS

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I know a lot of kids want to be in school. Also, more kids/teens  are doing better than the parents. Parent need to let go of the old ideas about all these things kids "should" experience.  Kindergarten, middle school graduation, frost year in highschool last year in highschool... It is what you make it and social norms change. There is a pandemic.. so things change. Most of the kids and teens get that.. they get life isn't the same as it was a few months ago. And they are probably much better than their parents at moving on and creating a new normal. 
Now dcps and dcpcs are not helping by trying to pretend it is school as usual just on a computer at home.  The lack of freedom for teachers to have a creative curriculum incorporating home life, currently events and such is sad. But, parents can do this if they just focus all that is and not all that is no longer. And depending on how things go with vaccines and God forbid we don't get some actual leadership it could be this way for a long while.[/quote]

On “social norms” during COVID:  When OP suggested  “first year in high school” should be marked by more “rah rah”, that was a revelation to me!  A key challenge for  teen distance learner is motivation. even for students who normally do well in school.  I think OP was trying to address that in advocating some “rah rah”.

When kids are actually going to school, they are motivated to go to class, participate in class, be proactive in managing schedules by other students and by teachers who have that special touch.  Under distance learning, it’s for parents to motivate them to 1. Keep track of their schedule and 2, get out of bed and get dressed, eat breakfast and 3.  log on to whichever platform.  4.  Plus homework/tests. If possible, it would be great if teachers and educational leaders could somehow work their magic through a distance, and instill a sense of team/teen spirit to motivate students.

On curriculum during COVID:  I totally agree that it should *not* be/cannot be school as usual on a computer.  I think this is also part of the motivation challenge.  Wouldn’t science be more interesting if public health/pandemics were woven into the curriculum?  If ELA incorporated study of pandemic journals or the Depression lit?  Or student reflections on “getting centered” during isolation?  Or figuring out what really matters?   Maybe, maybe not.  I think the individual teacher is best placed to decide.  I really do agree that allowing a teacher to exercise creativity and even improvise a bit is key.  If a teacher is really interested in what s/he’s teaching, and is actively seeking to engage students as individuals, that’s sure to get my teen out of bed!

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